A conventional automotive seat is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The automotive seat 11 comprises a seat cushion 13 which is mounted to a seat slide mechanism 12 secured to a vehicular floor, and a seat back 15 which is connected through a reclining mechanism 16 to a rear end of the seat cushion 13 in a manner to be pivotal forward and rearward.
To a movable rail 12a of the seat slide mechanism 12, there are connected paired front and rear leg members 17, 17a each having a generally L-shape. An upper portion of each leg member 17, 17a is welded or bolted to a side frame 21 which partially constitutes the seat cushion frame.
To the side frame 21, there is pivotally connected a front end of a base or support member 22 of the reclining mechanism 16 through a pivot pin 23 having an end attached to the side frame 21. The base member 22 has a rear end to which a latch 25 is provided. Usually, the latch 25 is kept engaged with an engaging pin 27 formed on the side frame 21. By cancelling the engagement between the latch 25 and the engaging pin 27, the seat back 15 becomes available to pivot forward together with the base member 22 of the reclining mechanism 16. The forward pivoting of the seat back 15 is incorporated with an operation of a walk-in mechanism of the automotive seat 11.
However, when, in the conventional automotive seat 11, an abnormal load is applied to the seat back 15 due to a vehicle collision or the like, the load is applied to the pivot pin 23 of the reclining mechanism 16, and thus, the side frame 21 having the pivot pin 23 at a middle portion thereof is liable to be deformed.
An object of the present invention is to provide an automotive seat which even when, due to a vehicle collision or the like, a load is applied to the seat back, the side frame of the seat cushion is resistant to deformation.